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Synopsis

In this text, Victor Alejandro Sorell writes that Chicago State University observed the 66th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution with a dedication of an eight-panel portable mural by Raymond Patlan entitled El Grito de la Raza Cósmica, [The Cry of the Cosmic Race] on November 19, 1976. He writes that Patlan created the mural with three young assistants, that the painting’s theme and title are borrowed from José Vasconcelos’s book La Raza Cósmica (1925), and that the mural is dedicated to Vasconcelos himself and to Luis Jaramillo, a New Mexican priest who worked in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen during the early 1970s. Sorell describes the mural’s focal point, a screaming, flame-emblazoned mestizo figure shown emerging from the fusion of indigenous and Spanish blood. He also notes that, while this iconic figure is often portrayed passively, Patlan’s depiction is more assertive and mirrors the stance of the contemporary Chicano.

Annotations

This short text by the Chicago-based art historian and activist Victor Alejandro Sorell appeared in the summer 1979 issue of Abrazo [Hug], a Chicago-based magazine published by Movimiento Artístico Chicano (MARCH) from fall 1976 until the late 1970s. In it, Sorell describes the presentation of a mural by Raymond Patlan, in turn, a Chicago-based activist and muralist. Of note is Patlan’s embrace of the theme La raza cósmica [The Cosmic Race] and the importance of this theme for the community of artists in Pilsen during the 1970s, as well as the students and activists at Chicago State University (where the mural was shown).

Researcher

Victor Sorell; Harper Montgomery, collaborator

Team

Institute for Latino Studies, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, USA